From The Northern Virginia Daily
February 26, 2025
By Ryan Fitzmaurice
Shenandoah County must move toward a more unified emergency response system to meet growing demand, according to findings presented by Chief Joe Pozzo of the Center for Public Safety Management.
The study, commissioned by the county in September, outlines service gaps, staffing shortages and infrastructure needs while providing strategies to improve fire and EMS response.
“From an operational standpoint, you have to be a system,” Pozzo said. “Doing what you’re doing isn’t working.”
The study focused heavily on emergency medical services (EMS), which account for most of the county’s emergency calls and play a major role in funding operations. It identified response gaps in Fort Valley, Edinburg and Toms Brook, where EMS units are frequently pulled away to assist other areas, leaving their own districts unprotected.
“When you add all of that up, you’re into a 20- to 24-minute total response,” Pozzo said of Fort Valley. “And when they can’t get out, where is the help coming from?”
With units tied up elsewhere, backup often comes from Strasburg, Woodstock or even Warren County, leading to longer response times and forcing neighboring agencies to shift resources.
Pozzo noted that EMS transports make up 76% of calls, with each transport taking an average of 76 minutes. In Orkney Springs and Star Tannery, transports often exceed 100 minutes. As a result, ambulances remain out of service for extended periods, reducing availability and compounding delays.
A short-term solution is reassigning personnel — relocating a Strasburg crew to Toms Brook and a New Market crew to Edinburg. Pozzo said this would help, but the long-term fix requires hiring additional staff.
“The higher level is you don’t do all that moving around, and you just go hire 21 people,” he said.
Another key issue is a shortage of Advanced Life Support (ALS) providers. Pozzo stated that ALS ambulances are primarily based in Strasburg and New Market, staffed about 75% of the time, with Woodstock having coverage only half the time.
“You don’t have 100% coverage every day, everywhere,” Pozzo said. “You don’t need it everywhere, but you need more than what you have. You are deficient.”
Without consistent ALS coverage, Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances are often dispatched first, requiring a second unit with ALS capabilities to be called in if needed. This delays critical interventions for heart attacks and strokes.
“That’s not even a high level of service,” Pozzo said. “That is a standard level of service. Somebody having a cardiac event — you have to be able to diagnose that and get them to the right facility.”
To address these challenges, the study proposed increasing recruitment and training efforts, offering financial incentives for advanced certification and expanding local paramedic training options. Pozzo also suggested implementing Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) software at the 911 center to prioritize calls and introducing ALS “chase cars” so paramedics can respond separately from ambulances, keeping transport units available.
Beyond EMS, the report highlighted recruitment and retention challenges. Shenandoah County saw a 13% turnover rate among firefighters and EMTs in the past three years, with two-thirds of career personnel having less than three years of service, leading to limited operational experience.
Pozzo noted that Shenandoah County’s recruitment must align with its reality as an EMS-heavy service. The county competes with neighboring jurisdictions that offer higher pay and more fire-oriented roles, which can be more appealing to recruits.
“Your primary mission is EMS,” Pozzo said. “If you’re hiring people who want to be firefighters, and they find out they’re on an ambulance most of the time, they’re going to leave.”
Some agencies require recruits to commit to paramedic training within their first year. While Shenandoah County offers incentives for advanced EMS certification, Pozzo said the county must make it clear that EMS — not fire — is the primary focus.
The study also identified aging fire stations and outdated equipment as concerns. Nine of the county’s 11 fire facilities are over 30 years old, with five exceeding 50 years. Many stations lack modern health and safety features, such as exhaust capture systems to prevent exposure to carcinogens.
Additionally, the county faces a $3.58 million expense to replace self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) equipment, which is reaching the end of its service life. The county has applied for a FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant, which would cover most of the cost, but if the grant is not awarded, local funding may need to be considered.
While no formal funding plan was proposed, instead the study gave a range of options, Pozzo noted that some jurisdictions use fire mill levies to supplement EMS and fire budgets, suggesting it as an option.
The study did not recommend a fully career-staffed system but called for greater collaboration between volunteer and career personnel.
“This is about level of service to the community,” Pozzo said. “It’s not about careers, it’s not about volunteers, it’s about getting the right resources in the right places.”
The Board of Supervisors will now consider the findings and determine which service improvements are feasible based on funding and community needs.
Many proposed actions require significant county investment. With new fire apparatus often costing over $1 million per vehicle, Pozzo noted that many volunteer departments struggle to fund major equipment purchases and maintenance.
Supervisor David Ferguson acknowledged the study’s value but pointed to financial realities.
“There’s a lot of good stuff already here. Most of it I’ve already heard from (our fire service),” Ferguson said. “One of the things we don’t always communicate well enough to the public is that there are costs associated with the level of service that you want.”
Supervisor Dennis Morris stated there is a need for greater county support to ease the financial burden on volunteers.
“The biggest thing we can do for volunteers is step up to the plate so they don’t have to spend so much time trying to raise money,” Morris said. “If we can help them financially, they can spend more time at the station doing what they need to do.”
Chairman Josh Stephens echoed the findings, stating that a unified system and financial backing is essential.
“I agree. I think we need to step up our fiscal support for volunteers,” Stephens said. “They need to know we are here as a system, and I feel that rhetorical message has been missing in the last several years.”